Well, these lovely little things are me and my husband's first official pets! And no longer are they in their mealworm stage, they are now officially "Darkling Beetles", also known as Tenebrio beetles. Before Amber passed them on to me, AnnaMarie was so kind as to change their bedding, which was a bit damp. Once the dry bedding was put in, they were much more active. This is something that led us to our investigation and experient of whether the beetles prefer wet or dry environments.
I did some research about Darkling Beetles and found out some other reasons they are so active. They are now mating! If the female beetle does not submit to the male, the male will chase her around until she does submit (hence the activeness of the beetles!) I also noticed that several of the beetles were burrowing in the bedding (which is wheat germ). I did research on that and found out that once the sperm is released into the female she will burrow and can lay up to 500 eggs.
The beetles are about at the end of their life cycle now, but their eggs will start a whole new generation!
Had the beetles from April 4-12
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